I Wish They All Could Be California Bands

His name may not ring a bell, but California photographer Henry Diltz is responsible for four decades' worth of some of rock's most iconic images. After his own days as a folk musician in the early '60s, Diltz started his career behind the lens working for teen magazines, eventually shooting covers for Rolling Stone (a young Michael Jackson) and Life (Paul and Linda McCartney), not to mention album covers for Crosby, Stills & Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash), James Taylor (Sweet Baby James), Eagles (Desperado) and The Doors (Morrison Hotel). Diltz also would become the official photographer for Woodstock and Monterey Pop, and he co-owns the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York and La Jolla. As part of "Live Talks Los Angeles"  a series of local discussions with artists and the like  L.A. Weekly contributor Kristine McKenna interviews Diltz about Unpainted Faces, his latest black-and-white retrospective book, which is littered with shots, mostly from the '60s and '70s, taken right here in SoCal: Joni Mitchell in Laurel Canyon; David Cassidy with the UCLA cheerleaders; Neil Young in front of his Malibu home, which burned down before he moved in; and The Doors outside a now-defunct Skid Row dive bar called Hard Rock Cafe for the back cover of Morrison Hotel. In a famously unrelated way, that photograph inspired two London investors to open a chain of international restaurants, also called Hard Rock Cafe. Track 16 Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica; Wed., Feb. 8, 8 p.m. (reception 6:30-7:30 p.m.); $20-$95. (310) 264-4678, livetalkslive.org.
Wed., Feb. 8, 8 p.m., 2012